transgressor of its orders, an impugner of the common prayer, a gatherer of night-conventicles, and a busy disputer against the Athanasian creed; and, therefore, to reclaim him from his dangerous errors, the bishop suspended him from his ministry.* Upon his suspension, Mr. Huckle laid his case before the lords of the council, and procured the following letter, dated from Greenwich, May 4, 1584, addressed to the bishop :+ "Our hearty commendations to your lordship. "The bearer, John Huckle, minister of the word of God, "hath been here before us, who, with his confession of faith "and solemn protestation, doth seem to detest Arianism, and "every other the like heresy with which he may be charged; "and offereth to subscribe Athanasius's creed, and to testify "to the world, by any other means, his sincere and un"feigned belief of the doctrine contained in the same. And "so far as we can find, he is a man clear and sound in "religion, and no other matter, according to our knowledge, "can be proved against him. We, therefore, see no cause "why he should be any longer suspended from the exercise "of his ministry; and we pray your lordship, that you will "now, upon his recognition, revoke your suspension, and "treat him with all convenient favour; whereby he may be "the better encouraged, and the more able to discharge the "duty belonging to him. And so we bid your lordship "hearty farewell. Your very loving friends, WILLIAM Burghley, ED. WARWICK, Such was the opinion and commendation of these distinguished persons, but the bishop was of another mind; and, notwithstanding Mr. Huckle's protestation and readiness to subscribe, the hard-hearted prelate refused to restore him. This appears from his lordship's answer to the council's letter; wherein he says, "If I should restore him, I could not answer for it before God, her majesty, my own Such was the conscience, nor the church of God."+ sentiment of this relentless prelate! He was unwilling to rescind his own determination, though recommended so to do by the greatest persons in the land; therefore, Mr. Huckle, with many others, who fell into the hands of this lordly ecclesiastic, remained under suspension, at least for several * Strype's Aylmer, p. 108. + MS. Register, p. 584. + Ibid. years; and whether he was ever restored, is extremely doubtful. In the year 1587, he was among the suspended ministers of Essex, who, to obtain some redress of their grievances, presented a supplication to parliament, an account of which is given in another place.* JOHN FOX, A. M.-This celebrated man, usually denominated the English Martyrologist, was born of respectable parents at Boston in Lincolnshire, in the year 1517. His father dying when he was young, and his mother marrying again, he came under the guardianship of his father-in-law. At the age of sixteen, he was sent to Brazen-nose college, Oxford; and afterwards he became fellow of Magdalen college, in the same university. In the days of his youth, he discovered a genius and taste for poetry, and wrote several Latin comedies, upon subjects taken from the scriptures. For some time after his going to the university, Mr. Fox was strongly attached to the superstitions and errors of popery. He was not only zealous for the Romish church, and strictly moral in his life, but rejected the doctrine of justification by faith in the imputed righteousness of Christ, and concluded himself to be sufficiently safe by trusting in the imaginary merit of his own self-denial, penances, almsdeeds, and compliance with the ceremonies of the church. Afterwards, by the blessing of God upon his studies, he was delivered from this self-righteousness, and led to submit himself to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And by his indefatigable researches into ecclesiastical history, together with the writings of the fathers, but especially by his thorough acquaintance with the holy scriptures, he was convinced of the immense distance to which the church of Rome had departed from the faith, and spirit, and practice of the gospel. In order to make himself a more competent judge of the controversy, which now began to be warmly discussed betwixt protestants and papists, he searched all the ancient and modern histories of the church with indefatigable assiduity. His labours to find out the truth were indeed so great, that, before he was thirty years of age, he read all the Greek and Latin fathers, all the schoolmen, and the decrees of councils, and made considerable progress in other * See Art. George Gifford. branches of useful knowledge. During this close applica tion, he avoided all kinds of company, and betook himself to the most solitary retirement, often spending whole nights in his study. At length, from this strict and severe application, having forsaken his old popish friends, and from the dubious manner in which he spoke, when he was obliged to give his opinion on religious subjects, but, above all, from his sparing attendance on the public worship of the national church, in which he had been remarkably strict, he was suspected of alienation from her constitution and ceremonics, and of being infected with heresy. Mr. Fox having found the truth, soon became bold and courageous in the profession of it, even in those dark times of popery. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God in the cause of truth, than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Being deeply impressed with the declaration of our Lord, "Whosoever is ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with his holy angels;" he determined to venture the loss of all things for the sake of Christ; ánd, therefore, openly professed himself a protestant. This he had no sooner done, than he was publicly accused of heresy, and expelled from the college. His adversaries, indeed, thought they dealt favourably in suffering him to escape with his life. This was in the year 1545.* Wood, by mistake, says, he resigned his fellowship, and left the university, to avoid expulsion.+ Mr. Fox being expelled from the university, lost the favour of his friends and relations. As he was convicted of heresy, they thought it unsafe, and were therefore unwilling, to countenance or protect him. His father-inlaw, in particular, seized this opportunity of withholding from him the estate which his own father had left him. While he was thus forsaken and oppressed, God, in the hour of extremity, raised up an unexpected friend and patron, in Sir Thomas Lucy of Warwickshire. This worthy person took him into his house, and made him tutor to his children. Here he found a comfortable asylum from the storm of persecution. While in this situation, he married a citizen's daughter of Coventry, but still continued, in Sir Thomas's family till his pupils were grown up. Afterwards, * Life of Mr. Fox prefixed to his "Acts and Monuments of the Martyrs." + Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. p. 186. with some difficulty, he procured entertainment sometimes at the house of his father-in-law, and sometimes at the house of his wife's father in Coventry, till a little before the death of King Henry VIII., when he removed to London. For a considerable time after his removal to the metropolis, having no employment, nor yet any preferment, he was again reduced to extreme want. However, by the kind providence of God, he was at length relieved, in the following remarkable manner: As he was sitting one day in St. Paul's church, his countenance being pale, his eyes hollow, and like a ghastly, dying man, a person, whom he never remembered to have seen before, came and sat down by him, and accosting him with much familiarity, put a sum of money into his hand, saying, "Be of good comfort, Mr. Fox. Take care of yourself, and use all means to preserve your life. For, depend upon it, God will, in a few days, give you a better prospect, and more certain means of subsistence." Though he could never learn from whom he received this seasonable relief, within three days of that memorable event, he was taken into the family of the Duchess of Richmond, to be tutor to the Earl of Surrey's children, whose education was committed to her care.* Mr. Fox continued in this honourable family, at Ryegate in Surrey, during part of the reign of Henry VIII., the whole of Edward VI., and part of Queen Mary's. Bishop Gardiner, a most bloody persecutor, in whose diocese he found so comfortable and safe a retreat, would have brought him to the stake, had he not been protected by the Duke of Norfolk, who had been one of his pupils. Mr. Fox, it is said, was the first person who ventured to preach the gospel at Ryegate; and with deep concern, Gardiner beheld the heir to one of the noblest families in England, trained up, under his influence, to the protestant religion. This prelate formed various designs against the safety of Mr. Fox; and sought by numerous stratagems, to effect his ruin. The good man, who was less suspicious of the bishop, than the bishop was of him, was obliged, at length, to quit his native country, and seek refuge in a foreign land. The duke, who loved and revered him as a father, sheltered him from the storm as long as he was able; and when Mr. Fox was obliged to flee for safety, he took care to provide him with every comfortable accommodation for the voyage. * Life of Mr. Fox. He set sail from Ipswich, accompanied by his wife, and some other persons, who left the country on a similar account. The vessel had no sooner got to sea, than a tremendous storm arose, which obliged them to return to port next day. Having with great difficulty reached the land, Mr. Fox was saluted with indubitable information, that Bishop Gardiner had issued warrants for apprehending him, and that the most diligent search had been made for him, during his absence at sea. He, therefore, prevailed upon the master of the ship to put to sea again, though the attempt was extremely dangerous; and in two days, they arrived at Newport in Flanders. Thus, by the kind providence of God, he a second time, narrowly escaped the fire.* After his arrival in Flanders, Mr. Fox travelled to Antwerp, then to Frankfort in Germany; where he was involved in the troubles excited by the officious and unkind proceedings of Dr. Cox and his party. The first settlers at Frankfort being driven from the lace, Mr. Fox removed to Basil in Switzerland, to which city many of his fellow exiles accompanied him. Basil was then one of the most famous places in Europe, for printing; and many of the English refugees, who retired thither, procured their subsistence by revising and correcting the press. By this employment, Mr. Fox maintained himself and his family. Also, at Basil, he laid the plan of his "Acts and Monuments of the Martyrs," which he afterwards, with immense labour, finished in his own country. Mr. Strype is, however, very incorrect when he intimates that our author published his first book while he was in a state of exile.‡ Having mentioned the above celebrated work, commonly called Fox's Book of Martyrs," it will be proper to give some account of this fruit of his Herculean labour. We have already observed that the author directed his attention to this work, during his residence at Basil; but he reserved the greatest part of it till his return to his native country, that he might procure the authority and testimony of more witnesses. It appears from the author's own notes, that he was eleven years in compiling this great work; and in this, as well as in some others of his labours, Mr. Fox was favoured with the particular assistance of several distinguished persons. Among these were Mr. John Aylmer, * Life of Mr. Fox. + Troubles at Frankeford, p. 30, 47, 50. Strype's Cranmer, p. 358. |